Will Kim Ha-sung (29) of the San Diego Padres be hamstrung by his injury? In just two months, the prospect of Kim Ha-sung’s ransom has been halved.
The U.S. media “Spotting News” predicted on the 14th (Korea Standard Time) that Kim Ha-sung would leave San Diego and expected the size of the FA contract to be $ 63 million (about 85.6 billion won) for five years.
“Spotting News” said in an article titled “San Diego, where the Gold Glove winner (Kim Ha-sung) is expected to leave,” “Infielder Kim Ha-sung has been a great help to the team over the past four years. Nevertheless, he has been embroiled in many trade rumors.” The media continued, “Kim Ha-sung will receive a lot of salary this winter. It is expected to sign a contract worth five years and 63 million dollars,” and added, “[Kim Ha-sung] can play all infield positions, has won a Gold Glove award, and has a very stable offense.”
Five years and 63 million dollars is by no means a small contract, but it is a bit unfortunate considering the evaluation of local media before Kim Ha-sung was injured.
Kim Ha-sung, who signed a four-year + one-year total of $39 million (about 53 billion won) with San Diego when he entered the Major League in 2021, will conclude his four-year contract with the end of the 2024 season. Kim Ha-sung, who was evaluated as a preliminary FA resource capable of more than $100 million in contracts ahead of this season, was also classified as a “Tier 3” with the possibility of signing a contract worth between $100 million (KRW 135.9 billion) and $200 million (KRW 271.8 billion) in the preliminary FA grade classified by the U.S. “ESPN” in August. 메이저사이트
However, his dream to become an “FA jackpot” is on the verge of being thwarted by his injury. In his fourth year in the big league this year, Kim Ha-sung played in 121 games as the starting shortstop of the San Diego Padres with a batting average of 0.233 (94 hits in 403) with 11 homers, 47 RBIs, 22 steals, and OPS of 0.700. Although not as high as last year’s career-high (0.260 batting average of 0.260 in 152 games with 17 homers, 60 RBIs and 38 steals, he contributed to the team’s offense and defense by recording double-digit homers for three consecutive years and 20 steals for two consecutive years. Notably, he had a batting average of 0.409 (nine hits in 22 times at bat) with one homer and three RBIs in seven games right before his injury, which made him on the disabled list (IL) which was regrettable.
In the end, Kim Ha-sung, who failed to return from injury and finished the season without undergoing shoulder surgery, recently appointed super agent Scott Boras, drawing attention. Boras is an agent who is also known to Korean fans as a “big hand” who has drawn large contracts of Park Chan-ho, Choo Shin-soo and Ryu Hyun-jin, as well as a six-year, $113 million (about 153.6 billion won) contract for Lee Jung-hoo (26, San Francisco Giants).
Although he has joined Boras Corporation, a major agency, the market remains calm. Prospects for the size of FA contracts have been halved in just two months. However, there is still a possibility that the ransom will rise if the number of clubs aiming for Kim Ha-sung as an all-around infielder increases. “Kim Ha-sung did not have his best season at bat, but he is still highly utilized,” the Sporting News quoted Christover Klein from Fanside as saying, “Many clubs will line up to sign such productive shortstop.”
The media continued, “Despite the poor performance this season, Kim Ha-sung is still one of the best hitters in the Major League. He has the best defense range and shoulders, and he is a threatening player who can steal more than 30 bases when he is healthy. Of course, all this depends on how well he recovers from surgery,” and explained that Kim Ha-sung’s FA value depends on whether he recovers from injury.
